[Advaita-l] Re: Patronage for learning

[S Jayanarayanan]

--- Ravisankar Mayavaram <abhayambika at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 13:40:07 -0800 (PST), S Jayanarayanan
> <sjayana at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Contrary to popular belief (even among Brahmins), the
> philosophy
> > of the Vedas is not limited to Vedic chanting! There are
> mImAmsA
> > and VedAnta sUtras which form the exegeses of the Vedas and
> > these texts require rigorous study. There are traditional
> > scholars who study these sUtras and it is these scholars
> that I
> > was referring to. They don't want to be full-time purohits
> since
> > that leaves no time for scholarship and study. It is these
> > scholars who are having a tough time in Modern India,
> finding
> > few patrons to support them.
>  Some of the organizations I mentioned do not teach only vedic
> chanting. They teach a lot more than that. They will teach
> even more
> and find teachers to teach them if there is a need/demand. 
> For
> instance, veda paTha nidhi  has over 50 publications
> explaining many
> vedic rituals, these books are not mere translations, they
> quote
> relevant shaastra-s to  explain what is done, how it is done,
> and why
> it is done.  And the vedagama trust in mayavaram, teach a lot
> from
> shaivaagama-s etc.
> 
> I think, our goal must be  to find out what activities are
> going on
> and make them known so that  willing people can help them and
> participate in them.  You know someone , who is looking for
> funds to
> study/teach mImAmsa etc. You can post in detail about them and
> the
> importance in helping them out.  If you create that as a HTML
> file, I
> will post it on ambaa.org as well.  This is one topic that
> requires
> more action than discussion.
> 

Maybe, but traditional shishhTas usually don't accept "help" in
the form of *money for nothing*, unless it is out of necessity
(there are exceptions like yAtrA-dAnaM, etc.). In the past,
traditional scholars used to teach students and give advice on
dharma to their patrons and others who sought it, and that was
their service in a dhArmic society. That's the reason that
BrAhmaNas are asked to perform vaidIka karma etc. -- everyone
has his/her duties in a dhArmic society, and serves the society
in that capacity. A BrAhmaNa who did not perform his alloted
work in a dhArmic society was not considered a BrAhmaNa at all,
as per the shAstras. There is very little need or demand for
scholars in mImAmsA (or VedAnta) in Indian society today,
because the practise of vaidIka dharma doesn't carry the weight
that it used to, so those who wish to pursue traditional
scholarship find few patrons.

I will try and find out more about the scholars who lack funding
and resources. The reason I remember the scholar whom I
mentioned in a previous posting so well is because I saw my
Guruji, who knows the entire KR^ishhNa Yajur Veda (including the
chanting, meaning, along with the various karmas involved), and
can speak and discourse fluently in Sanskrit, prostrate before a
man half his age, just because the man was more learned in Vedic
studies! It was a practical lesson that the tradition places far
greater weight on wisdom and learning than on physical age.

> Thanks.
> 
> Ravi
> 

Regards,

Kartik

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com